The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been submitted for the claims of service connection for an acquired psychological disorder, lumbar strain, degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the thoracic spine with large endplate osteophytes, and degenerative lower lumbar facet arthritis. The claims are being remanded due to insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: The post-service medical records do not corroborate that the Veteran experienced continuous back pain since service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired Psychological Disorder, Lumbar Strain, Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the Thoracic Spine with Large Endplate Osteophytes with Slight Anterior Wedging at T12, Degenerative Lower Lumbar Facet Arthritis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2024
- Citation
- A24065989
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A24065989.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's generalized anxiety disorder, hearing loss, and tinnitus are all granted service connection.,Service connection for GERD is also granted as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected generalized anxiety disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a TDIU from October 12, 2016 to November 12, 2018 and from January 1, 2019 to July 22, 2019 due to service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD is granted, and the issue of service connection for an acquired psychological disorder is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by heart failure, which the Board finds may be service-connected through secondary service connection due to obesity resulting from his service-connected PTSD and back disability. However, VA failed to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether obesity is a substantial factor in causing heart failure.
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